The Catholic Sun

CHICAGO (CNS) — With prayers, songs and sealing wax, Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago formally closed the investigation into the life and virtues of Fr. Augustus Tolton Sept. 29 in a ceremony in the St. James Chapel at the Archbishop Quigley Center. The prayer service marked the binding and sealing of the dossier local research aimed at making Fr. Tolton, the first African-American diocesan priest, a saint.

St. Matthew is a one-classroom-per-grade school, but the majority of its students double up on the learning with complementary lessons taught in English and Spanish. The dual language staff highlighted student learning and assessment during a state conference of the Arizona Language Association and the Teachers of Language Learners Learning Community Sept. 26 at Mesa Community College.

After telling parishioners and students in the religious education program at Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. James Parish about what is happening in Syria, Fr. Rodrigo Miranda was impressed that a 13-year-old girl was one of the first to respond.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis warned against the abandonment and neglect of the elderly, calling it a "hidden euthanasia" rooted in today's "poisonous" culture of disposal and an economic system of greed. In the presence of his predecessor, Pope Francis also thanked retired Pope Benedict XVI for staying to live at the Vatican and being like "a wise grandfather at home."

The unified voices and various instruments of a church’s choir gather us in and send us forth. Their melodies lift Catholic hearts on a journey through the Bible and place them at the heavenly banquet.

National Coffee Day is Sept. 29 and The Refuge, a local coffee shop and wine bar in Central Phoenix, is offering some deals for patrons who want to savor it within or take bags home to roast on their own.

Arizona will be home to one of the largest annual public rosary celebrations in the nation this year as thousands are expected to come together in prayer in Tucson Oct. 11 and Phoenix Oct. 12.

A new 13-episode series featuring Catholics across the United States and Canada who have returned or converted to the Catholic Church has connections to the Diocese of Phoenix.

A handful of men were recently called to an instituted ministry within the church as part of their path of discernment for the diaconate.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The three top leaders of the international Catholic peace organization also called upon the world, particularly the United Nations, to work together to seek nonviolent alternatives to stop the Islamic State's expansion and influence in Iraq and Syria.